1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming system and a maintenance execution program that are capable of forming an image on a sheet and carrying out post-processing on the sheet.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there has been proposed an image forming system which is comprised of an image forming apparatus, such as a copying machine, and post-processing apparatuses, such as a finisher, connected to the image forming system, for performing various types of post-processing desired by a user, such as bundle discharge processing, binding processing, folding processing, and bookbinding processing. To enable a single system to perform all these types of post-processing necessitated by a user, such as bundle discharge processing, binding processing, folding processing, and bookbinding processing, one solution is to serially connect a plurality of dedicated post-processing apparatuses for the respective types of post-processing, to the image forming apparatus.
In such an image forming system, the exteriors of the image forming apparatus and the post-processing apparatuses are provided with covers for being opened to permit access to the insides thereof when a user carries out jam recovery or a serviceman carries out system maintenance, such as component replacement, adjustment, and cleaning.
An example of the conventional image forming apparatus provided with such a cover will be described with reference to FIG. 24. FIG. 24 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view showing the arrangement of essential parts of the conventional image forming apparatus.
As shown in FIG. 24, the conventional image forming apparatus includes a printer 300 that forms an image on a sheet by electrophotography. The printer 300 is comprised of an exposure controller 110 including a polygon miller 110a, a photosensitive drum 111, a developing device 113, a transfer section 116, a fixing section 117, a flapper 121, discharge rollers 118, an inverting path 122, a double-sided conveying path 124, two cassettes 114, 115, and a manual sheet feeder 125. From the cassette 114 or 115, the manual sheet feeder 125, or the double-sided conveying path 124, a sheet is fed for printing and conveyed to a position between the photosensitive drum 111 and the transfer section 116, where a developing agent image formed on the photosensitive drum 111 is transferred onto the fed sheet, and the developing agent image is fixed to the sheet by the fixing section 117.
Now, the image forming apparatus is provided with a cover 351 for being opened to permit access from the outside to all of a plurality of conveying passages (including sheet conveying passages extending from the cassettes 114, 115 to the photosensitive drum 111, a conveying passage for discharging a sheet from the apparatus, the inverting path 122, the double-sided conveying path 124). This cover 351 is not opened during usual image forming operation, but opened for jamming recovery or maintenance when the apparatus is not in operation. Therefore, when the cover 351 is opened during the image forming operation, it is judged that there has occurred some abnormality, and all the operations of the apparatus are stopped.
The post-processing apparatuses are also each provided with a cover similar to the above described cover of the image forming apparatus.
For maintenance of the image forming apparatus or the post-processing apparatuses, there has been proposed a method of setting maintenance items in a time series arrangement, and configuring the maintenance items such that maintenance according to each maintenance item is properly performed based on the number of times of execution of maintenance work on the image forming apparatus or the like up to the present time to thereby control the maintenance (see e.g. Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 09-090826).
However, some maintenance items require a plurality of steps depending upon the contents thereof. For example, in some maintenance items, after a maintenance operation comprised of replacement of a component part, cleaning and adjustment has been carried out, it is necessary to carry out adjustment of the replaced component part and/or its related part(s), cleaning and/or confirmation of the operation.
More specifically, when a certain component part has reached a predetermined withstand number of times of operation thereof, it is replaced by a new one. Thereafter, a sheet is fed to a unit for which the component part replacement has been carried out, to adjust positions of component parts of the unit. Following the adjustment, a sheet is fed again to the unit to confirm the operation of the unit. Such adjustment of the unit after replacement of a component part thereof is carried out because mounting of the replaced component part in an improper position causes the position of the replaced component part relative to the unit to differ from that before the replacement of the component part.
Recently, however, there are cases where maintenance of image forming apparatuses is carried out by users instead of service men. In such cases, there is a fear that a user who is not familiar with a maintenance operation is not aware of the need to make adjustment of the unit after replacement of a component part thereof and forgets to make such adjustment before completing the maintenance operation.
Further, a long period of time is required from the start of a maintenance operation to completion thereof. Stoppage of the whole system over such a long period of time results in a degraded operation efficiency of the system. As one way to prevent such degradation in the operation efficiency, an image forming job is carried out without using maintenance functions after replacement of a component part, and after completion of the job, the maintenance operation which has been suspended is resumed.
According to this way, however, there is a possibility that the user forgets to resume the suspended maintenance operation after completion of the job. In such a case, there is a fear that the maintenance operation is terminated though all required maintenance items have not been carried out.